Government has received 620 applications for Bermudian status by Permanent Residence Certificate holders, according to Senator Michael Fahy.

Speaking in the Senate, Sen Fahy said that of those who had applied under section 20B of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956, 70 had received a decision, with the Department of Immigration considering structural changes to process the “overabundance” of applications more quickly.

“The Personal Services Section of the Department of Immigration has remit for all Bermudian status applications,” Sen Fahy said. “This section also processes travel documents, naturalisation as a British Overseas Territory Citizen, PRCs, licences to purchase land, permissions to reside, to seek employment and to attend school, letters for spouses of Bermudians and landing permits.

“Being guided by legislation, the vetting process for all these application types, to ensure that the application is complete takes considerable time.”

Sen Fahy said the focus was to get the status applications dealt with in the date order that they were submitted and as expeditiously as possible.

He said that fewer than half of those eligible to apply for status under the Act had done so, adding that suggestions that the legal decision would create thousands of new Bermudians were far fetched.

Questioned about how many of the processed applications had been successful and how many have been rejected, Sen Fahy said he did not have the information to hand but that it would be released either in the House of Assembly on Friday or in the Senate next week.

Sen Fahy also said that, separately to status applications, Government was working on a policy document to encapsulate formally written guidance on submitting applications.

“The Personal Services policy document will carry a similar sentiment to that of the new Work Permit Policies, which will be implemented on March 1, 2015 — the intent being to clearly communicate what is expected of applicants, including a list of personnel in the Personal Services Section and processing timelines,” he said.